Blankly
by MeIsAmusing
Summary: What happens when the Bat finds a girl in the streets and decides to be a fatherly figure? Will the lock on her heart be broken? Or will the Joker take a liking to her non-reactive personality?
1. Chapter 1

A cold night meant a long one, shadows moved slowly across the sky, bats in the moons wake. The biggest bat jumped from building to building, listening for screams or glass breaking or something else, the bat's shadow billowed behind him, the cape waved and wreaked around in the speed that the bat was running at. The bats boots clunked against the roof almost like he would fall through if he landed on it to harshly. His direction deterred when he heard voices and punches being landed, he pulled a weapon from his belt and jumped to the sidewalk below, a cold and meaningless night just got a little more interesting as the Bat neared a group of men all surrounding one guy.

"Man where is the money?" One of the men shouted angrily at the guy in the middle.

"I swear I don't know, please let me go," the man pleaded. He received a kick to the gut instead as the rest of the men surrounding him started to beat him.

"You think I'd let you go after all the money you lost us, you must be fucking crazy," the man yelled. The Bat growled loud enough for the thugs to hear and they turned around frantically to see no one there.

"Looking for someone," the rough voice of the Bat spoke behind them. One of the men screamed before the Bat smashed his face into the ground. Within minutes the Bat had cleared out the alley and jumped away to find something else to stop, he was one busy Bat.

The night had been a crazy one and the Bat ran quickly back to where his hideout was, although it was more of a house than anything else, the Bat passed many alleys but stopped and turned around to closer inspect one of them, something had caught his eye. The smell was what caught his attention first, the smell of blood. He moved some garbage around, there seemed to be to much garbage for just one alley, he moved a box with an old picnic table cloth over it out of the way and froze. The thing under the box didn't look alive anymore, the thing was a girl, eyes glazed over and blood all over her body. Her eyes gazed blankly at the ground and it looked as if she was unconscious with a picture in her mind, maybe more of a movie, playing over and over again to black out all reality. The Bat moved her head a little to see a wound on her scalp, with his masks technology he could see that her heart was still beating, but it was very faint. He picked her up gently and rushed back to his hideout.

"Alfred, I need bandages," the Bat yelled pulling off his mask after putting the girl on a couch.

"Bruce," the butler came rather quickly and stared at the girl when he saw that the bandages and medicine were not for Bruce, but rather a kid.


	2. Chapter 2

Gray, a different color from the usual sky in the morning. Eyes opened slowly, the girl on the couch realized that beneath her was not concrete, it wasn't garbage, it was rather soft, where was she? Her mind wandered and soon the Bat from the night before walked into the room, but she didn't know him, she hadn't seen him pick her up the night before, she didn't even know that Bruce Wayne was the Bat at all, she just saw a man and her reaction was to glare at him. She moved to get up, or even lift her head so that he wasn't looking down at her, but the pain, made her hesitate and she remembered the night before. Men with clubs beat her into the ground, they waited till she wasn't moving anymore and left her against the wall laughing, he body felt so numb that she didn't even feel the garbage that was dumped over her so it would hide the object that smelled so profusely horrid. Her hand lifted to her head and she felt the bandage that now covered her once bloody and leaking scalp, why wasn't she still in the alley? She had wanted to die so much that she played herself dying in her head many times before she lost her hold on the real world, the picture stayed, like a dream she couldn't escape she saw herself die many times, she had heard herself scream and scream in her head, and now her throat hurt just thinking about it. She wouldn't speak anymore.

Bruce looked at the girl with pity, it was awkward to just walk up and start talking, she didn't freak out like he thought she would, she seemed more curious then not. The Bat had been up all night and found her near midnight, she didn't even look alive anymore, and as Bruce the Bat searched the news, police reports, and newspapers, there was nothing about a lot teenager that fir her description. Bruce looked back at the girl to see that her eyes had glazed over again, this worried Bruce and he put his hand on her arm lightly. Bruce expected her to jerk away from him but all she did was look up slowly and stare at his hand, it was almost like she was half asleep even though she was most certainly awake, this was the first time she looked alive in the three days that she had been at his house. Bruce retracted his hand slowly, she kept her eyes on it until he brought it up to his head so he could scratch his scalp, she stared blankly at his face before Alfred walked in carrying a tray with food on it.

"Miss, would you like something to eat?" Alfred asked her kindly. She stared at him blankly as well.

"What is your name miss," Bruce asked softly. She turned her attention towards Bruce slowly, the girl seemed that she was a remote control that was stuck on slow motion.

The girl looked at them, she hadn't spoken in a while, but they seemed nice, they helped her, maybe she could say her name, maybe this time it wouldn't hurt her, they weren't going to beat her for talking were they? No, they didn't seem the type, why would they beat her after taking care of her wounds? She couldn't find a logical reason.

"Bo," her voice came out roughly and coarse as if sandpaper had been rubbed over her vocal cords. It hurt. She wouldn't speak again for a while, she didn't like her voice, it sounded clogged and forced to her, Bo hated her voice. She wouldn't speak for a while.

"Bo?" Bruce questioned. He'd thought he heard wrong but frowned when she shook her head, he was hoping for a full name instead of just a nickname or her first name, whatever Bo was.

"Miss Bo, would you like some food?" Alfred asked again. Bo nodded softly, her name was the first thing she had said since the Bat found her, she didn't even groan in pain when she was injured and bleeding, she just looked dead. Bo nodded in response to Alfred and he set the tray of food down in front of her on the coffee table that had a first aid kit on it.

The tray had an assortment of food on it. Bo glazed over all the food until she saw a muffin, she guessed it was morning due to the fact that the food was mostly food she would see people eating on the T.V, she never really ate breakfast before, her parents wanted her out of their sights as quickly as possible so she would always run out of the house before they woke up. Bo picked up the muffin shakily, she hadn't eaten in a week and she noticed how hungry she was right then. It was soft and sweet, it tasted like cinnamon and it reminded Bo of when her grandmother would make cinnamon rolls for her when she was little. Her grandmother died when she was young.

Despite how hungry Bo was she ate slowly, she didn't want to be disrespectful to her comfort suppliers, this was the first time she had woken up warm in four months, it was the first time she had spoken to someone in three years. She hated her voice.

"Bo," Bruce got the girls attention, she looked up as slowly as ever. "Would you like to stay here until your ready to leave?" Bruce asked. During the three days that the girl had been asleep Bruce tried to find where she had come from with no success and therefore figured that she had either run away from an abusive foster home or an Orphanage that she never got picked to leave. It had been a year since Rachel's death and he couldn't get his mind off the fact that it was his fault, Bruce figured that he could take care of the girl until he found someone to really take care of her, Rachel would have been a wonderful mother.

Bo nodded her head hesitantly, would they yell at her to go away? She didn't have anywhere to go at all, the last thing she remembered was getting beat in the alley, she really didn't have anywhere to go.

"Okay let me show you where you will be staying," Bruce said kindly, smiling at the girl. Bruce was surprised to see the girl's face written with confusion, Bo wasn't used to seeing people smile softly at her, they always gave her an evil smile before smacking her across the face and telling her to get the fuck out of their faces. Bo stared blankly at him while Bruce walked slowly to show her where her room would be, she planned on leaving that night, she didn't deserve to stay in a house like this, she didn't deserve it at all.

"Poor girl," Alfred sighed walking behind them with the tray of food in his hands. Bo walked into the room slowly, it was the nicest room she had ever been in, no beer bottles, or blood on the wall, it felt safe, maybe she wouldn't leave tonight, maybe she would stay until she was ready to leave just like the man had said. Bruce realized blatantly that his name had yet to be told to the girl.

"Bo, my name is Bruce, and this is Alfred," Bruce motioned towards himself and then Alfred. "We well take care of you," he said. Bo looked at them, again she had the dead look in her eyes, but it felt good to know that she knew who he was and that he wasn't going to harm her in any way.

"Miss Bo," Alfred said putting his hand on her shoulder lightly, he had already set the tray down. Bo looked at it blankly. "Soon we will go out to get you some clothes, where would you like to go?" Alfred asked her politely. She didn't know why he would even ask, did they expect her to answer, she wasn't going to, she hated her voice, how folly of them to expect an answer, she wasn't going to speak. "Right then," Alfred started to answer for himself. "It will be a surprise then," she smiled at her. She hated surprises.

Alfred had left with the girl two hours ago, Bruce did not want to go, he had some work to finish anyway. Bo and Alfred walked through the door, Bo had many bags in her arms and Bruce looked at Alfred questioningly, why was she holding her own bags? She certainly didn't have to.

"She wouldn't let me," Alfred told him. Bo was happy, she had her own clothes and a room to herself, she was so happy, but she wouldn't let Alfred carry her bags, Bo was afraid that if the kind man carried her baggage he would be mad that he had to, and she would be thrown out. Bo didn't want to be thrown out, she liked the two men very much, they didn't hit her. Alfred was kind and she though he might break if she was to excited and careless, could a person break? Bo wondered. Yes, she held her own heart, yes they could.


	3. Chapter 3

Bruce woke up early, as usual, and walked into the kitchen expecting to see Alfred already making breakfast, but what surprised him was that Bo was already up and making breakfast instead of Alfred, she turned around nervously and bowed slightly as an apology. Bruce looked towards the table and saw scrambled eggs, toast, potatoes, and fresh fruit that had already been cut up and set in a bowl neatly, there was even juice already in cups. Bruce looked at Bo with a surprised expression, had she done all of this by herself? Also on the table was a picture of Bo with a teddy bear, she was smiling, Bruce sat down in one of the chairs and picked up the picture, this was probably how Bo looked when she smiled, but she hadn't smiled at all yet so he didn't have anything to compare it to. Bo seemed to be a very talented drawer, the picture looked exactly like her, but he didn't know what to say, what do you say to a girl that will never ay anything back? He looked at Bo and frowned, she didn't have to make breakfast for him, she didn't have to do much of anything for him, but here she was, doing something Bruce rarely ever did.

Bo had gotten up early, whenever Bo had a place to stay she was always ordered around, go make breakfast, go do the laundry, go wash the dishes, always something, and afterwards they would yell at her for not getting everything washed or for a stain that you could barely see. They yelled at her for not talking to them. So when Bruce frowned at her she froze over, had she done something wrong? He was going to hit her now, she was sure of it, pain always came after frowns. She turned around and started washing the dishes, she didn't want to get hit in the face, it made everything fuzzy and it was hard to get away afterwards. Bruce walked up behind her slowly, he didn't exactly know what to do, he wasn't used to handeling kids, should he hug her? Would she freak out? Bruce thought back to what his dad used to do and mimicked his actions, he ruffled her hair and smiled at her before taking a piece of toast and a glass of juice and walking out of the room. Bo put her hand on her head and looked to where Bruce ahd walked away, she wanted to smile but her mouth wouldn't move, it came out as a frown instead, why couldn't she smile? Bo frowned.

Over the next couple of days Bruce enjoyed having Bo around, she was quiet but had a sort of comfy feeling about her, she wouldn't talk but you could sometimes tell that she wanted to smile, Bruce smiled for her, in Bruce's opinion she had a very nice smile. Alfred liked the girl as well, she was kind, but she was also broken, as if a the mute button had been pushed down to far and they tried to fix it by smashing it against the wall in order to get the button unstuck, but instead it just broke and took all her emotions with it. Alfred and Bruce both noticed the little picture that she had left all over the house, some had writing on them, but they were torn in half so you could no longer read what it used to say, Bo seemed to express her feelings in drawings, but she didn't like what she had to say at all and destroyed it soon afterwards. Bruce didn't know what to do with her and was surprised when Alfred came back with a totally different girl than what he had left wit, Bo had gotten a haircut and put on some of ehr new clothes, she was actually pretty cute after all the blood and dirt was washed off. Bo liked being with the two men, they were nice and they didn't hit her, yet. Bo still wondered when they would snap and hit her, at least they would have been nice at first, and Bruce felt good when he came home to see a new picture that she drew of herself smiling, she wanted so bad to smile at them, she wanted to shop them how greatful she was to them, she wanted to say thankyou. But whenever she tried to speak her throat got rough and scratchy, and when she tried to smile her face hurt, maybe God didn't want ehr to smile, God probably hated her smile, Bo wished she could hug God, would he let her smile if she hugged him?

Alfred suggested taking Bo to an art museum, she liked drawing so much and she was really good at it, so maybe she would like admire it in an exhibit.

"I can take her if your to busy," Alfred offered, he knew that Bruce had a very needy job. Bruce shook his head.

"I'll take her," he said, he hadn't been paying all that much attention to her the past days that she had been at his house.

"I'll go get her," Alfred smiled. Bruce had not taken anyone, who wasn't a client, anywhere in a long time, and Alfred thought it was a good idea for Bo as well, she needed to get out of the house once in a while, and this seemed like something that she would be interested in. "Bo," Alfred walked into her room after knocking. She glanced at him, her blank stare really bothered Alfred, her eyes just gave off a dead stare everytime she looked at someone.

Bo just stared at him, she hated her voice when she had told them her name, it was ugly, she hated it.

"Bruce is going to take you out to a museum, can you please get ready?" Alfred asked her kindly, it didn't really sound like a question though. Bo nodded slowly and Alfred left the room so she could change, should she look nice if she was going to a museum? Bo didn't know she had never been to one before, no one ever thought that she deserved to go anywhere for a benefit to herself, no one thought she was worth anything, no one. Bo looked at the skirts that Alfred said she could buy, she always thought that skirts were pretty, they swished in the wind and ruffled in the breeze, they were very pretty. She changed into a simple black skirt and looked at her boney legs, they were so ugly, Bo put on some black and white striped stockings, she liked the colors black and white, just like all those old pictures where everyone is smiling, everyone is happy. Bo put on a black and white plaid coat over her T-shirt, she looked in the mirror and frowned, she looked ugly but she didn't want to change again so Bo slipped on some small black shoes before walking out to where Bruce was.

Bruce looked up as Bo walked into the room, she looked so cute, like a little dress up doll that a little kid got thier hands on. Bo's short black hair hung lightly just above her shoulders and framed her big grey eyes, Bruce smiled lightly at her as she fidgeted with the bottom of her coat, her eyes were downcast slightly, she didn't like how she looked.

"Lets go," Bruce smiled lightly pushing her shoulders. They walked past Alfred and stopped because Bo grabbed onto the sleeve of his jacket like a little kid, she looked at Alfred with big eyes, wasn't he coming? Bo had grown used to seeing the man smile at her so kindly, he seemed a lot nicer than Bruce, Bruce was always working, but there were a few times when he smiled at her, she wanted to smile back, but her mouth wouldn't let her.

As they walked out the door Alfred smiled softly, when she grabbed onto his sleeve he felt much like a proud parent who just witnessed his child walk for the first time.

"I'll see you later my dear," Alfred said taking her hand and letting it go. Bruce and Bo continued walking towards the door, when they got into the car Bruce sighed, it was hard to start a coversation with someone who never said anything to him.

When they got to the museum Bo sat in the car, where did Bruce take her? Had she been bad, what did she do?

Bruce wondered why she wasn't moving and opened the door for her, she stared at the seat in front of her blankly and Bruce sighed, what was she thinking about?


	4. Chapter 4

"Do you like this picture Bo?" Bruce asked as the young girl stared at one of the bigger pictures. The girl had finally gotten out of the car, she had just seemed to freeze, Bruce didn't know what to think, but he was able to get her out of the car with a smile and some reassurance. Once they had gotten into the museum Bo seemed to shine with at least a little interest, this made Bruce smile, he felt like a proud parent, finally getting an emotion out of her.

Bo looked longingly at one picture, edged with darkness a reclusive figure huddled in the fog, looking almost like a too big rain drop; she gazed into the black smog of the picture. Memories of the past were not the fondest of memories for Bo, but some glimpses that she remembered were the ones that she held dear.

A smile, half shrouded by a blanket.

A melody, softly sung through the cries of a baby.

These were her favorite memories, the sound of a soft voice as they sang a lullaby, the smile of a tired mother gently holding her child. Though they were the most fleeting memories for Bo she still loved them.

Although this picture brought memories upon Bo, they weren't the happy ones she wished her mouth would smile for, they were the ones that made her shake, the ones that made her wish she could die to escape.

It was her first single parent adoption, she always wondered how the man had been able to adopt her in the first place, but he had. His name was Jeff, he seemed rather mundane though if you peeled on the paint a little you found the glue that help the pieces together. Bo hated that man, he was the first person that told her to shut up, he told her tat talking was a bother, it was irrelevant and unwanted. One night when Bo asked for food he had screamed at her and raised his fist toward her, the cops came to a neighbors complaint of loud noises to have a bloody and beaten girl open the door. Bo was taken to the hospital and then back to the orphanage, she was only seven.

Bruce looked down at Bo, she had been looking at the same picture for ten minutes, her eyes slightly wide, though they still had the same glazed look that they always had.

"Bo," Bruce said putting his hand lightly on her shoulder. She turned around slowly, ready to get hit again, she wouldn't flinch, flinching showed that she was scared of being hit, and being scared was a weakness, which also meant pain. "Lets go to a different picture," Bo looked blankly up at him and he ushered them off to a more vibrant picture. It was then that Bo could hear people screaming, the high pitched piercing sound seemed to split the sky, Bo grabbed onto Bruce's sleeve lightly.

Bruce looked around as the screams came closer, a slight tug on his sleeve made him look down at Bo, she was looking at the ground, but help onto his coat sleeve, the gesture made him smile softly at her. A white clown mask made Bruce freeze for a second, it could only mean Joker, and that would mean that he had escaped, but what was he here for? Bruce looked around, he needed to be Batman right now, but what about Bo? What would he do with Bo? She still didn't know he was Batman.

As people rushed by Bo closed her eyes, softly the fabric of Bruce's coat slipped past her fingers and vanished, she looked around slowly, Bruce was gone. Bo's sad gaze shifted towards the ground, they always did that to her, her voice must have been truly ugly if once they heard it they wanted rid of her, she wouldn't speak ever again, never, never again.

Joker smiled hugely and felt the familiar snap of bones as his unnatural smile took its place as his own display of pure happiness, it was so much fun to see lady's in pretty dresses scream and run in terror, and the men doing exactly the same was absolutely riveting to see. He didn't understand why people would want to come to such a boring building, who would want to walk around and look at pictures, the internet took care of that anyway.

It was going to be so much fun to shoot people again, how they would plead to him, please don't kill me, I'll do anything, you want money? I'll give you money, everything they said was funny. Could he not just go to a bank and steal all the money he could ever want, hostages were so fun to mess with.

Rushing through the crowd Joker looked for a girl, not too told not too young, he wanted to have some fun with this one before he let her go, maybe she would be insane by the end, just like the last one he had before the Bat got to him. Joker soon got frustrated and fired shots into the air, the crowd froze, would they be shot next?

"Stop running, stop running," Joker said waving his gun around, everyone running made his mind fuzz up, and no one had even punched yet. "Hello, everyone," he said pausing between words while moving his head around looking at everyone in the crowd. "What, ah, a perfect place to waste your life," he cackled after he said this. Looking around his eye caught on a girl that help tightly onto a man who was trying greatly to not look scared by what was standing in front of him. "Well hello there," he said with a rough voice advancing towards her. Her florid face seemed flushed with fear, rather than embarrassment, she quickly ran through the crowd away from him, her date looking at her fleeting form.

Bo stood in the spot where Bruce had left her, the gunshots to quiet the crowd were just background noise for her, but when the screams stopped she was a little happy, it wasn't as loud as it used to be anymore. Bruce had left her though, she could still feel the slight roughness of the coats material between her fingers, how folly she was to think that he had wanted her. She had merely been a rat, vermin standing beside a proud and beautiful creature that already found its shining glory.

She was mad at herself again, how could she think that she was safe? Bo began to walk away, not noticing the crowd parting behind her as Joker ran after a girl that ran past Bo not long ago, where would Bo go now?

"Stop, ah, running, sweet cheeks," Joker cackled as he advanced on the girl. Bo wasn't running, so it couldn't be her, she kept walking, her slow pace wouldn't get her our of town if she walked all night, but her legs felt like led, she was so stupid for trusting Bruce, so stupid for staying that very first night….so stupid.

Joker laughed as his fists closed around the girls arm, it was even more fun when they ran away, he forgot how funny people were with the look of pure terror in the faces, he was going to have so much fun with this one. Looking quickly around at the scared crowd he spotted a moving figure and shot at it, no spoken warning, just a poorly aimed shot meant to graze the upper arm, he always got the best reaction out of those shots. The gal walking didn't stop, blood seeped through her jacket, the once black and white material was now stained crimson as the blood migrated down her arm. Joker looked at her with a smile, throwing the struggling girl to the ground he followed after Bo, curiosity took him over, most people who got grazed screamed out in pain and held their shoulder cursing, none of them had ever kept walking before.

Bo heard the shot ring in her ears, the loud noise bugged her more than the pain did, she was used to it by now, nothing escaped her lips, even the smallest cry of pain had been blotted out years ago. She kept walking, the image of a happy family and her self pasted in her head drove her through the door before a hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back into the building. Bo hit the ground and lay there, God must really hate her if she couldn't even leave through the front door, what was going on anyway, all she could see was a clown in a purple suit looking down at her. Bo stared back solemnly, it was only when a shadow edged across her face that she looked up slowly to see a funny guy clothed in black.

"Hello, Batman," Joker said pulling Bo to her feet.


End file.
